Peace and War: Are They Really Irreconcilable? Giorgio De Michelis Concludes the “Making Peace with the World” Series at the University of Insubria on 20 November with a Reflection on the Complexity of Conflict

Peace and war are often regarded as opposing conditions, separated by an apparently clear boundary. Yet the history of human societies reveals how complex the relationship between these two dimensions is, shaped by tensions, contradictions and transformations. Understanding the meaning of peace therefore also requires examining the persistence of conflicts, their underlying dynamics and the ways in which they influence relationships between individuals and communities.

These questions will be at the heart of the concluding event in “Fare pace con il mondo. Nella radicale complessità del reale” (Making Peace with the World: In the Radical Complexity of Reality), a series of lectures promoted by the City of Como and the University of Insubria, in collaboration with the Il Paguro Cultural Association.

On Friday, 20 November, at 5.30 pm, Giorgio De Michelis, a scholar of Organisational Informatics and Interaction Design at the University of Milano-Bicocca, will deliver a lecture entitled “The Controversy Between Peace and War” in Room S.0.1 at the University's Sant'Abbondio campus in Como.

The lecture will offer a reflection on the relationship between conflict and peace, focusing on the dynamics that have shaped history and human relationships, as well as the difficulty of interpreting these two conditions as entirely separate realities.

The event will conclude a series of six lectures that, starting on 16 October, will have explored the theme of peace from different perspectives: from the anthropological roots of war to the transformations of the digital economy, from the language of criminal justice to coexistence, and finally to the relationship between society and the environment.

The overall aim of the series is to provide opportunities for reflection on the complexity of the contemporary world, highlighting how peacebuilding involves not only international relations but also economic systems, institutions, individual behaviour and everyday life.

The concluding event will take place at the University of Insubria, Via Sant'Abbondio 12, Como. Participant registration will open at 5 pm, and the lecture will begin at 5.30 pm.